Hydrocarbons, such as oil and gas, are commonly obtained from subterranean formations that may be located onshore or offshore. The development of subterranean operations and the processes involved in removing hydrocarbons from a subterranean formation typically involve a number of different steps such as, for example, drilling a wellbore at a desired well site, treating the wellbore to optimize production of hydrocarbons, and performing the necessary steps to produce and process the hydrocarbons from the subterranean formation.
After drilling a wellbore that intersects a subterranean hydrocarbon-bearing formation, a variety of wellbore tools may be positioned in the wellbore during completion, production, or remedial activities. It is common practice in completing oil and gas wells to set a string of pipe, known as casing, in the well and use a cement sheath around the outside of the casing to isolate the various formations penetrated by the well. To establish fluid communication between the hydrocarbon-bearing formations and the interior of the casing, the casing and cement sheath are perforated, typically using a perforating gun or similar apparatus.
Perforating guns typically establish communication between the formations and interior of the casing through the use of explosives, such as shaped charges, to create one or more openings through the casing. The shaped charges typically include a case, a quantity of high explosive and a liner. In operation, the openings are made by detonating the high explosive which causes the liner to form a jet of particles and high pressure gas that is ejected from the shaped charge at very high velocity. The jet is able to penetrate the casing, thereby forming an opening. The use of such explosives produces a substantial amount of debris, as the internal components of the perforating gun become damaged during the detonation of the charges. If the spent portions of the perforating gun are pulled, drilled out or dropped to the bottom of the wellbore, then the debris can lead to undesirable corrosion and damage to the well or surface equipment. However, pulling the used perforating gun out of the wellbore can increase nonproductive time during well completion, and debris can still fall out of holes in the perforating guns as the guns are pulled through the wellbore. Accordingly, it is now recognized that there exists a need for systems and methods that overcome these drawbacks associated with the debris left from explosive perforating guns.